This paper examines the theoretical perspectives I utilised in my doctoral research to uncover the role of class and gender in my respondents' stories and experiences of their career success. I argue that adopting an economic model for conceptualising the influence of social class and gender in the respondents' stories and experiences of their career success is inadequate because it has historically neglected to take account of women's position in the labour market. Drawing on an example from my data examining the influence of the respondents' familial attitudes and dispositions towards education, the paper contends that Bourdieu's concept of habitus is an invaluable tool for theorising senior female academics' pathways to career success by bringing together a cultural, social and economic understanding of social class and gender. (Contains 1 table.)